Amazon presented a last-minute offer to acquire all Tiktok, the popular video application, while it approaches an April delay to be separated from its Chinese owner or cope with a ban in the United States, depending on three people familiar with the offer.
Various parts that have been involved in talks do not seem to take Amazon’s offer seriously, people said. The offer came via a letter of tenders addressed to the vice-president JD Vance and Howard Lutnick, the commercial secretary, according to an informed person.
Amazon’s offer highlights the 11th hour maneuvers in Washington on the property of Tiktok. Political decision -makers of the two parties expressed profound national security problems concerning Chinese application of the application and adopted a law last year to force a sale of Tiktok which was to enter into force in January.
President Trump, who has been committed several times to save the application despite national security problems, delayed the application of this law until Saturday, even after he was unanimously supported by the Supreme Court.
Amazon refused to comment. Tiktok did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Trump is expected to meet with the best officials of the White House on Wednesday to discuss Tiktok’s fate. People familiar with talks have described a potential agreement that could involve calling for a number of new American investors, notably Oracle, the technology giant and Blackstone, the investment capital company, while circumventing an official sale. But it is not clear that such a structure would fulfill the conditions of federal law.
Amazon has existing links with Tiktok. The video application, which has 170 million users in the United States, has become a major hub of retail shops, with influencers recommending products to viewers. While the company has its own electronic commerce operation known as Tiktok Shop, many influencers encourage people to buy products on Amazon, which gives influencers a reduction in transactions. It also provided a technical infrastructure.
Amazon had already tried to create a Tiktok clone, called Inspire, in its own application. Internally, it was a high -level initiative, but was largely considered unsuccessful to attract buyers. The company has removed it from the application this year.
Amazon is not the first retailer to express his interest in the application. In 2020, when Tiktok was first forced to sell American owners, Microsoft and Walmart made an offer for the company.
But Amazon would be the most prominent tenderer of the company, who also aroused the interests of the billionaire Frank McCourt as well as Jesse Tinsley, the founder of the Pay company Employ.com.
Tiktok argued that he is not for sale, in part, he says, because the Chinese government would block an agreement.
Theodore Schleifer Contributed reports.
